Incinerator



L. LAG H ETTO June 16, 1936.

INCINERATOR Filed Feb. 15, 1934 Patented June 16, 1936 UNITED STATESINCINERATOR Louis Laghetto, Somerville, Mass., assignor to Albert B.Tenney, Lexington. Mass.

Application February 13, 1934, Serial No. 110,997

4 Claims.

This invention relates to an improvement in incinerators and itsprincipal object is to provide an incinerator of simple constructionhaving but few parts, which is economical and efficient in operation,and which is marked improvement over the various types heretofore used.

Other objects are to provide an incinerator wherein all odors, obnoxiousfumes, etc., incident to the combustion of refuse, are effectivelydestroyed and/or carried off in such a manner that the use of theincinerator does not create a nuisance; and to provide a burnermechanism which is operative first to start combustion of the refuse andconsume the gases in the aforesaid manner, and thereafter to provide aforced draft capable of maintaining combustion of the refuse without theuse of any fuel.

Further objects relate to the construction and to the operation of myimproved incinerator and will be apparent from a consideration of thefollowing description and the accompanying drawing wherein:

Fig. 1 is a vertical section through an incinerator constructed inaccordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the incinerator shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a front view of the burner.

The embodiment chosen for the purpose of illustration comprises a casingwhich may be of wrought or cast iron, reinforced sheet metal, or anysuitable refractory material pro- 35 viding rigid side walls capable ofwithstanding high temperatures. The casing may be provided with suitableinsulation, if desired, to prevent radiation. The casing is providedwith an opening II at its bottom, an intermediate opening 12, and anopening I4 at its top. Suitable doors or closure members I5, l6 and I1are provided for openings ll, I2 and M, respectively, the doors beinghinged to the outer walls of the casing as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Agrate 20, supported on brackets 2| intermediate openings H and I2,divides the interior of the easing into a combustion compartment orchamber C above the grate and a firebox or pit P below the grate. An ashpan 22 is disposed on the floor 50 of the pit P and may be removedthrough the opening II.

A flue 25 is connected to the top of the casing l0, preferably adjacentto its side wall, and a cage or secondary grate, designated generally bythe numeral 21, is secured to the grate adjacent to the side wall of thecasing I 0 below the flue, as shown in Fig. 1. The cage 21 defines asecond combustion chamber and preferably comprises a series of spaced,upwardly converging rods 28, secured at their upper ends to a ring 29and at their lower ends to the grate, as shown in Fig. 3. Asemi-cylindrical shield 30 is mounted on the cage 21 and extends to thetop of the casing, thus providing a direct communication between the topof the cage 21 and the flue as shown in Fig. 1. The height and size ofboth the cage or secondary grate 21 and the shield may be varied inaccordance with the character of the refuse to be incinerated and thesize and proportions of the other parts of the incinerator. The distancebetween the shield 30 and the grate 20 is preferably such that the gasesdriven off from the refuse are deflected downwardly into the secondcombustion chamber, defined by the cage or secondary grate 21, wherethey are burned or consumed.

Where the shield 30 extends downwardly to a point adjacent to or belowthe center of the chamber C, suitable means may be provided to vent theupper part of the chamber and direct or discharge volatile matterdownwardly toward the grate or into the pit P so as to be consumed bythe flame jet, thus preventing the escape of obnoxious fumes through thedoors l6 and I1. To this end a perforated pipe or tubular-shaped screen3| may be disposed against the interior wall of the casing ID, as shownin Figs. 1 and 3, to provide a free and unobstructed communicationbetween the upper end of the chamber C and the pit P, so that volatilematter accumulating in the upper part of chamber C is forced through thescreen 3|, and downwardly into the pit P where it is consumed by theflame jet.

If desired, a b'aflle or deflector 32 may be secured to the under sideof the grate 20, as shown in Fig. 1, so that a larger part of the burnerflame is deflected toward the mass of refuse within the chamber C thanwould otherwise be possible if the firebox or pit P were unobstructed.

A bracket 35 is rigidly secured to the outer, side of the door I 5 andsupports a burner mechanism designated generally by the numeral 40. Theburner mechanism comprises an electrically driven centrifugal fan unit,both the motor H and fan 42 being mounted on the bracket 35. The fan 42is provided with a discharge duct 43 which extends through an opening inthe door to the interior of the pit P. The burner or nozzle portioncomprises a pair of tubular members 45 and 46 telescopically disposed inspaced relation to each other as shown in Figs. 1 and 4. Shroud plates41 and 45 are welded or otherwise secured to the ends of the tubes 45and 45, the inner tube 46 being supported in spaced relation to the tube45 by the shroud plates. The central portion of theouter tube 45 iswelded or otherwise Joined to the end of discharge duct 43. The tubes 45and 46 are preferably cylindrical and are provided with elongate axiallyextending registering openings 50 and 5|, respectively, these openingspreferably being in theform of segments between and in circumferentialextent. The inner tube 46 is provided with a series of apertures 52 atpoints opposite its segmental opening 5i. Although the size and positionof the openings 50 and 5| may be varied to provide a jet J of anydesired size and angle, they are preferably disposed so that they facediagonally across the pit P in the general direction of the cage 21 andflue 25 as shown in Fig. 1.

A burner thus constructed will operate on either a gaseous or a liquidfuel, but if a liquid fuel is to be used, suitable absorbent materialsuch as asbestos may be disposed in the bottom of the tube 46 to providea wick 55. A supply line 56 is connected at one end to the bottom of thetube 46 and at its opposite end to the main fuel line (not shown) by anysuitable means such as a flexible tube 56'- or a universal couplingwhich permits the door l5 to be opened and closed without deranging theparts. A rod 5'! of suitable insulating material having resistance wire58 wound thereon, is supported by the shroud plates 41 and 48 and isdisposed above but in close proximity to the wick 55, thus providing anignition element for lighting the burner.

Automatic means may be provided for shutting ofl the supply line inevent the burner fails to function and to this end anoverflow pipe 64may be connected to the tube 46 at a point just above a wick 55, or at apredetermined level above the inlet of the supply line 56. The pipe 64may extend through an opening in the door I5 to a catch bucket 65 whichis supported by the lever of a conventional trip valve 66 disposed inthe line 56. In event the burner goes out when the line 56 is open, orif the flow through the line 56 is excessive, the oil being fed into thetube 46, after reaching the level of the overflow pipe 64, flows intothe catch bucket 65 and effects the actuation of the trip valve 66,thereby shutting off the supply line 56.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows: The material or refuse tobe incinerated is introduced into the combustion chamber 0 eitherthrough the opening i 2 or H, the fuel line 56 is opened, and the wick55 is then lighted manually or by means of the electrical ignitionelement 58. The motor 4| is turned on and the fan 42 discharges acurrent of air through the opening 50. Part of the air blast passesthrough the apertures 52 and supports combustion of the fuel within theinner tube 46, but the major portion envelops the flames escaping fromthe opening 5| and carries them in the form of a hot oxidizing jet orblast J upwardly against the grate 20 and cage or secondary grate 21 incontact with the material to be incinerated.

The cage 21 not only prevents the refuse from caking against thesidewall of the casing and interfering with the draft, but furthermoreprovides an unobstructed combustion chamber where a part of the hotgases of the flame jet passing upwardly through the grate come in directcontact with the more volatile constituents of the refuse driven off bythe main portion of the flame or jet and are effective to consume andcarry them off, thus minimizing the amount of smoke and unburned gasespassing through the flue and destroying all obnoxious odors which wouldotherwise be present if the more volatile constituents were allowed toescape without coming in contact with the hot oxidizing flame of theburner.

After combustion of the refuse is under way, the fuel supply may be shutoff, but the fan is left running so as to provide an air blast or forceddraft which is effective to maintain combustion without necessity ofusing any fuel. To this end an automatically operated control device, oran electric clock switch such as a Tim-O-Stat" designated by the numeral60, may be employed to shut off the valve 62 in the fuel line 56 afterthe expiration 'of a predetermined period-of time, and after theexpiration of a second predetermined period an automatic time switch,such as a Mark-Time designated by the numeral 6|, may be employed toshut off the motor. For example, these devices may be set so that for ahalf hour the line 56 is open with the fan run ning, thus maintainingthe flame jet J for a period sufficient to start combustion of therefuse in the chamber C, and after the expiration of the half hourperiod the Tim-O-Stat" operates to close the valve 62, thus shutting offthe fuel supply but leaving the motor and fan running so as to providean air blast or forced draft which maintains the combustion of therefuse. The motor and fan continue to run until the expiration of thesecond period which may be from one half hour to an hour (or whatevertime is required completely to incinerate the refuse), whereupon theMark-Time operates to shut off the motor.

It will be noted that as the cage 2! lies in the path of part of the airjet and also the outlet for the chamber C, combustion of the refuse invicinity of the cage is of course more rapid and consequently theburning gases resulting therefrom are concentrated within and about thecage or secondary grate where they are eflective to consume the morevolatile constituents of refuse added from time to time. The shield 30serves as a baiile which deflects the burning embers, vapors andproducts of combustion downwardly. thus preventing them from escapingdirectly through the flue by causing them to pass through the upper partof the cage where they come in direct contact with the combustion gaseswhich are effective to insure complete combustion. The upper part of thecage thus provides a spark arrester which prevents the escape oflarge-sized burning embers through the flue.

Due to the continuous jet of air or flame discharged from the burner,there is no danger of ashes falling through the grate and clogging theburner. Furthermore, there is no danger of injuring or deranging theburner when cleaning out the pit as the entire burner assembly isremoved from the pit when the door I5 is opened, thus providing anunobstructed access to its interior.

While I have shown and described one embodiment of the presentinvention, it is to be understood that the present disclosure is for thepurpose of illustration only, and that various changes in shape,proportion, and arrangement of parts, as well as the substitution ofequivalent elements for those herein shown and described, may be madewithout departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in theappended claims.

I claim: A

an outlet flue adjacent to its top and a grate spaced from its bottomand defining a combustion compartment above and an .ash pit' below thegrate, a vertically extending cage mounted on said grate and defining asecondary combustion chamber, a blast burner disposed in said pit andarranged to discharge a jet diagonally across the pit and upwardlythrough said grate so that a portion or said jet directly enters saidcombustion compartment and another portion of said jet directly enterssaid secondary combustion chamber, and a shield extending from the topof said cage to said outlet flue, said shield being operative to deflectgaseous products of combustion downwardly and cause them to pass throughsaid secondary combustion chamber.

. 2. An incinerator comprising a casing having an outlet flue at its topand a grate spaced from its bottom and defining a combustion compartmentabove and an ash pit below the grate, .a vertically extending cagemounted on said grate againstthe side wall of said compartment, and

constituting therewith a secondary combustion chamber, a blast burnerdisposed in said pit and arranged to discharge a jet diagonally acrossthe pit and upwardly in the direction of the flue, a

baflle plate depending from said grate and ar-- ranged to deflect aportion oi. said jet upwardly through said grate into said combustioncompartment and another portion of said jet upwardly through said grateinto said secondary combustion chamber, a vent pipe extending from theupper part of said combustion compartment downwardly to said grate andbeing operative to conduct volatile matter accumulating in the upperpart of said combustion compartment downwardly into said pit, and ashield extending from the top of said cage to said outlet flue, saidshield being operative to deflect the gaseous products of combustiondownwardly and cause them to Ipeass through said secondary combustioncham- '3. An incinerator comprising a casing having an outlet flueadjacent to its top and a grate spaced from its bottom and defining acombustion compartment above and an ash pit below the grate, avertically extending cage mounted on said grate and defining a secondarycombustion chambena blast burner disposed in said pit and arranged todischarge a jet diagonally across the pit and upwardly through saidgrate so that a portion of said jet directly enters said combustioncompartment and another portion of said jet directly enters saidsecondary combustion chamber, a vent pipe extending from the upper partof said combustion compartment downwardly to said grate and beingoperative to conduct volatile matter accumulating in the upper part ofsaid combustion compartment downwardly into said pit, and a shieldextending from the top of said cage to said outlet flue, said shieldbeing operative to deflect gaseous products of combustion downwardly andcause them to pass through said secondary combustion chamber.

4. An incinerator comprising a casing having an outlet flue at its topand a grate spaced from its bottom and defining a combustion compartmentabove and an ash pit below the grate, a vertically extending cagemounted on said grate against the side wall oi said compartment andconstituting therewith a secondary combustion chamber, a blast burnerdisposed in said pit and arranged to discharge a jet diagonally acrossthe pit and upwardly in the direction of the flue, a baille, platedepending from said grate and arranged to deflect a portion of said jetupwardly through said grate into said combustion compartment and anotherportion of said jet upwardly through said grate into said secondarycombustion chamber, and a shield extending from the top or said cage tosaid outlet flue, said shield being operative to deflect the gaseousproducts of combustion downwardly and cause them to pass through saidsecondary combustion chamber.

LOUIS LAGHE'I'I'O.

